It’s been a busy week in education. At the TUC anti-racist workplace conference on Saturday, Kevin Courtney led the conversation with the reflection that “we’ve seen a decade’s worth of activism in a week”. Like me, it seems he was also impressed by the creativity on display during the teacher strikes, celebrating their skills with a great Twitter thread of his favourite placards.
There are many reasons why educators are going on strike, all of them serious. These have been thoroughly reported in Schools Week and I won’t go into them here, but as educators we know that non-violent protest can be a powerful way to effect change and make voices heard. We also know that a good placard conveying all that seriousness with humour is a great way to get people talking.
As a former headteacher, I’m very supportive of the strikes. As an art teacher, I was all the more interested in how teachers would use the ultimate art form of the placard to bring attention to this dispute.
Expectations were high. Twitter user @MisterFirth set the bar high, promising “the most grammatically correct placards this country’s ever seen”. Meanwhile, @ellasmr made a valid point that teacher’s placards are so good because they are “honed from years of display making”. And @Alistair_Scown agreed: “Teachers placards are going to be amazing. 100% they’ve all been laminated ready for the picket lines in the morning.”
So I’m pleased to say that they didn’t disappoint. As you might have expected, the National Society for Educators of Art and Design (The Art and Design teachers’ trade union, subject association and learned society) chimed in with a top-class effort at a beautiful banner.
But the quality of placards is about so much more than the craft. It plays to another one of the profession’s strengths: use of language. As @TeachLeadAAli summed up after the event: “No one can write puns better than a teacher. The placards are incredible.”
[INSERT PICTURE 3 – PLACARD WITH PUN HERE]
A final, important element of the effective placard is the use of cultural references. This is also something teachers are extremely adept at. From South Park to national curriculum tests, last week’s placards leaned into the profession’s ability to connect the message they are trying to impart with ideas that are familiar to their audience.
And the result of all that humour and creativity was that social media channels were teeming with expressions of teachers’ frustrations – few of them about pay and most about school funding. What better way to get the public on side?
No one was more pleased, perhaps, than the NEU themselves, who didn’t miss the opportunity to celebrate and draw attention to their members’ creative expression. Some went further, suggesting that art teachers should deliver CPD on placard-making!
Indeed, Tate Kids was so inspired by Wednesday’s mobile displays that they got involved. On Thursday, they published a teaching resource with “steps to make your own protest sign and show others what cause you feel passionate about today”, inspired by the work of the great artist Bob and Roberta Smith.
Art has long been used as a form of protest. This week has been a fantastic reminder of its power to effect social change. And if there exists any equal to art’s power to reach people and inspire them to action, it is certainly teaching. In this regard, last week’s placards were a match made in heaven.
With any luck, they will have been enough to persuade ministers to do what it takes to prevent another opportunity for teachers to take their display-making skills onto the streets.
But whether ministers have learned anything, the profession hasn’t missed a teachable moment. Headteacher, Simon Smith (@smithsmm) has a book for every occasion. This week, he recommended The Art of Protest, by De Nichols.
Reason enough to look forward to the next walk-out already.
Your thoughts